Stark Raving Sane:

On Romantic Comedies By Catherine SWEET

Here's what I did over my winter break. For fun, I read three books, which is a record for me because in a year I rarely recreational- ly read that much. I replaced my blood with sugar. Finally, I watched a ton of movies. So basically, I became the poster child for Sedentary Living Magazine. It was gross.

There were five movies | wanted to see. Two of them were romantic comedies. That's a high per- centage. Just as I cannot stop myself from enjoying pop music, I'm drawn to romantic comedies.

There's something so cloying about them, though. Beautiful people, in beyond-their-means apartments with super-lame conflicts keeping them apart. For some reason the men all wear Armani and the women have access to Yves Saint Laurent haute couture. And the couple has perfectly coiffed hair, unless a dishevelled state of mind is reflected in a unbrushed mane.

It's all so cookie cutter, and I see that, and I still keep going back. I think I've become so jaded after falling in love with "When Harry Met Sally..." that I can't even conceive of appreciat- ing another romantic comedy. I try the Tam Hanks/Meg Ryan combos, but it's all for nought.

More and more of these sac- charine romantic comedies are the yin to war movies' yang. I've heard that all the fantastic movies (meaning basi- cally beyond-chance plots, that go as far as trying to convince us that Keanu Reeves can have a Zen-like experi-

ence) coming out now are like the phe- nomenon of Shirley Temple's success. It's filling a hole in society where citi- zens can go to the movies to escape whatever ails them. Are movies this century's all-purpose tonic?

I've begun to watch old romances. Sometimes in these stories, lovers don't end up together because there's no way it would work. Please, please, please go rent "Casablanca" if you haven't already seen it. It is the most stunning bittersweet ending of a movie ever.

Also, if you want the snappy writing of a Niel Simon play with an early Oscar-winning performance from Richard Dreyfus, rent "The Goodbye Girl". I highly recommend it.

Here's where this beef origi- nates. I saw "Two Weeks Notice" and I hated it. I felt let down and betrayed because hello! Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock- how adorable.

No. The writing was weak, the attempts at comedy were sad, there

‘was no chemistry and there was a stu- pid tacked-on cat fight. And don't get me started on when she got drunk. It was a crap piecemeal of plot elements, none of which really fit together. Boo- urns on "Two Weeks Notice".

There's more romantic come- dies slated out the next few months and I know I'm going to go see them. ‘And I'm probably going to be disap- pointed, but I have to take the chance of finding another "When Harry Met Sally..." I hope there's one starring Luke Wilson. And they cast me oppo- site him. I need a better agent.

A$5,000 prize to the

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting announces

winner of anessay —

The Dalton Camp Award

competition on how

Deadline for entries: March 31st, 2003

the media influence

Award announcement: 2003 Banff Television Festival

Canadian democracy

For details visit daltoncampaward.ca

The Dalton FRIEN . S

Camp Award OF CANADIAN BROADCASTING

ited four-year, full-time rs of naturopathic ers of natural medicine.